Many medicines are relatively unpleasant to taste, and in either tablet or encapsulated form, are masked by flavored coatings to make them more palatable. The present invention is concerned with the provision of a flavored coating around a gelatin capsule containing a fill composition which is typically liquid, but may be paste like or even solid in some circumstances. Gelatin shells provide a useful means for encapsulating such compositions, but there are problems in applying flavored coatings thereover. Particularly, typical coatings can provoke changes in the gelatin shell structure which can adversely affect the integrity of the capsule, and in some cases also the coating.
Typical gelatin shells used to encapsulate products comprise gelatin in combination with a plasticiser such as glycerine which, together with water preserve a degree of softness and flexibility in the shell material. Such shells are relatively easy to handle, but have disadvantages in terms of taste. This is particularly relevant to breath fresheners and, according to one aspect of the invention, a breath freshener is provided in the form of a filled gelatin capsule to which is applied a flavored coating. Such a coated capsule is especially suitable for swallowing prior to rupture of the capsule, whereby the capsule fill is not released until the capsule shell is broken down in the stomach.